tourbillon

Invented in 1795 for pocket watches, the tourbillon countered the detrimental influence of gravity on any mechanism with a solution that was ingenious and yet extremely difficult to implement. The device governing tourbillon watches consists of a mobile carriage housing the movement’s regulating organs: namely the balance-wheel, balance-spring and escapement. The constantly spinning tourbillon subjects the regulating organ to a regular 360° rotation, thereby cancelling out over time gravity’s effects on the regulating system, and thus on the movement’s precision. Vacheron Constantin tourbillon watches are thus endowed with extreme precision.